


Roses On A Breeze

by rosyrichie



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Gay, M/M, coffee shop AU, flower shop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 08:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosyrichie/pseuds/rosyrichie
Summary: Richie Tozier is new to town, sans-father, with a slightly troubled past. His newly diagnosed depression is sporadic and causing him difficulties. Richie meets Eddie Kaspbrak one day by chance.





	Roses On A Breeze

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first full length fic and i'm super excited! i hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as i love writing it. 
> 
> my twitter is @superspywill :)

The world was brimming with color, shades of orange mingled with purples and pinks, making it seem as if the whole sky was ablaze. Richie’s glasses-framed eyes were glued to the sunset. He was leaning over the balcony above his mother’s rose shop, In Bloom, and the door chimed as she closed up for the night below. 

Footsteps echoed on the street down below; the evening rush was beginning. A few minutes passed by and the sky was beginning to fade into darkness. A breeze rustled through the summer air and Richie thought he heard someone wheezing down on the street. He glanced and saw a boy around his age take a puff of his inhaler. He was wearing a Breeze Coffee apron and turned the corner, hitting his shoulder on the brick in the process. The boy muttered something under his breath, and Richie would have bet money that it was somewhere along the lines of “fuck” or “shit.”

Footsteps came from inside the apartment, signaling that his mom was upstairs, probably getting ready to make dinner. Richie was immensely grateful for her. About a year ago, his dad was caught with another woman, and he was infuriated to say the least. He and his father got into a physical fight, Richie ended up blacking out and not remembering anything until his mother pulled him off of his father, knuckles bloodied and sweat dripping down his forehead. Richie hadn’t felt anything that intensely in years. His parents ended up getting a divorce, his mother settling with a nice chunk of his father’s family money, which partly funded their move and her opening In Bloom. 

Richie ended up in therapy because of the altercation with his father and was eventually diagnosed with depression. His therapist told him that feeling anger towards his father was a normal reaction, but she thought that maybe his outburst was due to his want to feel something, and the complete disregard for his own life. He thought she was right. 

Richie didn’t know if he believed in romantic love anymore, his father ruined that for him. How could someone spend so much time with his mother and not fall in love with her? She was beautiful with her raven hair that matched his and eyes that even the ocean couldn’t compare to. She was intelligent, she was kind, she was selfless. Everything his father wasn’t. She told Richie once that she thought she could somehow change or heal his dad, but that she now knew it was naive to believe you could really ever change someone who didn’t want to change. 

Richie wished he could change. He wanted for his head to not be clouded with dark thoughts, and he was tired of people telling him to “think positively!” That’s not how it works. His brain was something that he could simultaneously control, but was also so far out of reach that he didn’t know if he could ever get it back. He liked to think of his depression as driving in the rain. He was riding along the road, in total control of the car, his hands mastering the steering wheel. Then, all of a sudden, the car hydroplanes into the next lane of oncoming traffic without any say from him. Richie was stuck helpless at the wheel as his car spun out of control, the ruthless rain pouring down, not allowing him control no matter how hard he tried. He wished he had control of his head.

It was almost pitch black outside when Richie entered the apartment. His mom was leaning over the stove, humming along with the radio that played classic rock while she stirred a pot on the stove. As soon as Richie shut the door to the balcony, he heard a faint shout from down on the street. He poked his head back out to look and see what the commotion was about. He saw a stocky boy, probably about 17, Richie’s age, with his forehead pressed against the glass doors of the rose shop. Beside him was wheezy boy from earlier, looking even smaller than before next to the new boy. They were both illuminated by the street lamps that casted their tall shadows onto the empty street. 

Richie ran through the door, whirling past his mom who glanced at him as if he were a madman, down the stairs which squeaked surprisingly loudly under his slender frame, and into In Bloom. He made his way over to the doors and hastily unlocked them, the stocky boy giving him a hopeful look. Richie leaned against the door, crossing one of his legs over the other in a classic cool boy stance. 

“Hello, can I help you two fine fellows?” Richie gave them his best fake smile, a mask he was so used to wearing that it slipped into place without even Richie himself noticing. 

“Dude, I owe you my life. My girlfriend just landed an internship at a local fashion place, and I need flowers for her.” He sounded slightly out of breath and his light brown hair was sticking up in odd places, signaling that he’d been running his hands through it in an anxiety filled moment. This was something Richie knew too well. 

He glanced over to the small boy, his hair a shade lighter than Richie’s, his cheeks were slightly tinged pink. He looked like he was about to crack up at his friend’s frantic state. 

“I’m just here for emotional support, and as you can see, he clearly needs it.” The boy laughed as he flicked his eyes back to his friend. He still had his Breeze Coffee apron on and Richie noticed the name tag in the corner read “Eddie.” He was cute.

“Well, Eddie, I think you’re a great friend. You guys come in, I may be able to whip something up for you.” Richie winked at Eddie, he immediately regretted doing this and wanted to punch himself in the face. 

The three boys entered the shop, flowers would usually be everywhere in every color, but since his mom already closed up for the night, their inventory was in the back, making the shop seem a little bare. Richie slid behind the counter, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. 

“So, what are you thinking about getting?” Richie inquired stocky boy.

“Just the traditional dozen red roses, with maybe a little flair? I don’t know I’m bad at this.” He rubbed his palms over his eyes and back into his hair, making it stand up even more. 

“Ben, she’s so whipped for you that she’s not going to even care what you get her.” Eddie laughed again and Richie felt something twinge in his chest. He brushed it off as a fluke thing and looked back to Ben.

“Okay, Ben,” Richie said, catching his name from Eddie. “I can do some red roses with baby’s breath. I actually think I have one already made in the back.” He held up a finger to let them know he’d be right back. He disappeared into the back room of the shop which was bursting with color like the front usually was. He found the bouquet of red roses with baby’s breath and brought it back to the counter.

“This is perfect, I think she’s going to love it.” Richie rang up the flowers, the cash register keys clicking and Ben handed him the cash.

“I seriously owe you my life, um, what was your name?” Ben’s kind eyes were moving along Richie’s face.

“Richie.”

“Well, Richie, thank you. You should swing by Breeze tomorrow, I’ll treat you to a free drink on me, and I do believe Eddie will be there as well.” 

Eddie locked eyes with Richie and nodded. Richie wasn’t good at eye contact, but looking at Eddie in that moment made him never want to look away.

Richie forced himself to break his stare with Eddie and looked back over to Ben who seemed significantly less distraught than before. 

“I’d love to.” Richie said, his face forming a slightly more real smile than the false one he had put on before. He walked them over to the door and opened it for them to exit.

“I’ll see you two cuties tomorrow.” Richie cracked his half-fake, half-real grin again.

“Be careful there, Richie, I’ve got a girlfriend.” Ben laughed.

Eddie looked back at him, the street lamps casting their light on his smooth face. 

“I don’t.” He winked.

Richie wanted to melt into the floor. 

He locked up the doors to the shop again and jogged back up the stairs, his long legs taking them two at a time. His mom looked over her shoulder at him, her ponytail swinging. He thought it made her look younger when she wore her hair up, the lines that were beginning to form on her face were less noticeable. 

“Who was that, honey?”

“Just some last minute customers, they were about my age. One of their girlfriend’s landed some internship, so he needed flowers to congratulate her.”

“Alright, dinner will be ready in about an hour.” She gave him a small smile and turned back to the stove. 

He headed into his room and almost tripped over a shoe that was in the middle of the floor. He flopped onto his back on his bed, taking off his glasses so he could rub his eyes. 

He was excited to see Ben and Eddie tomorrow, he didn’t think he’d make friends so quickly. Richie was charismatic, but his sense of humor caused a lot of people to think he was overbearing sometimes. A lot of people didn’t like him.

He really hoped Ben and Eddie liked him. 

Especially Eddie.


End file.
